Villanelle

by Chris Westerley

Created on: October 23, 2009

Is the villanelle is more suitable than the sonnet to express passion? My answer is yes, but with reservations.

The word "passion", derived from the Latin word for suffering, is often used simply to describe mere enthusiasm. However, its basic meaning is intense emotion; the sort that can drive some people to kill others or themselves. Love, rage, hate, jealousy, religious fervor, grief and despair can all reach the level of passion. Love as passion is the state of being "sick with love", rather than simply "in love".

Intense emotion feeds obsession. A thought-storm whirls inside the head, entrapping the mind within its vortex.

Ezra Pound refers to this state in his "Literary Essays", specifically with reference to the villanelle: "The villanelle can at its best achieve the closest intensity... when the refrains are an emotional fact, which the intellect, in the various gyrations of the poem, tries in vain and in vain to escape".

I invite you to experience love as passion in a perfectly crafted villanelle, Mad Girl's Love Song by Sylvia Plath (not reproduced here for reasons of copyright)

Note the sledgehammer effect produced by the obsessive repetition of two rhyming lines. This is further echoed by the same rhyme being taken up elsewhere. This, together with the visual images arising from the words turns memories of a past love into an apocalyptic scene. Years have passed and much has been forgotten (But I grow old and I forget your name / (I think I made you up inside my head). Nevertheless, the sickness of love continues to drag the subject to potential destruction.

The potency of the villanelle derives from its structure, which is:

A1/b/A2 a/b/A1 a/b/A2 a/b/A1 a/b/A2 a/b/A1/A2

It consists of 19 lines. Of these, 2 (A1 and A2) form the core message. They are repeated 4 times. In the first verse, they are separated by one line with a different rhyme scheme (b). In the second, third, fourth and fifth verses, A1 or A2 appears without the other. It is partnered by a rhyming line (a). The two are separated by another b line. In the sixth verse, they come together again, after an a line and a b line. The presence of the same rhyme in three out of four lines within the last verse gives a final, pounding emphasis.

There are no strict rules about using a formal metrical (rhythmical) scheme in a villanelle. Many, including Plath's, are written in iambic pentameter - five pairs of syllables per line, in which the second of each is stressed (dee-DAH, dee-DAH, dee-DAH, dee-DAH, dee-DAH).

The sonnet is a substantially gentler poetic form. Its most classical forms are the Petrarchan and Shakesperean sonnets.

The Petrarchan sonnet allows for four or five rhyme schemes to be incorporated, namely:

a/b/b/a a/b/b/a c/d/d c/d/d

or a/b/b/a a/b/b/a c/d/e c/d/e

or a/b/b/a a/b/b/a c/d/c d/c/d

or a/b/b/a a/b/b/a c/d/d c/e/e

The Shakesperean sonnet uses seven rhyme schemes:

a/b/a/b c/d/c/d e/f/e/f g/g

The greater diversity of rhyming possibilities frees the sonnet from the obsession inherent to the villanelle. However, it is precisely the obsessive element that serves so well to convey passion.

A masterly villanelle leaves a permanent mark on the reader. Meeting Mad Girl's Love Song for the first time was one of my most intense reading experiences.

I hope I have convinced you, that the villanelle is perfect for the expression of passion. Why then a yes with reservations?

Quite simply: because few are capable of doing it justice.

In addition to having experienced passion, the poet must:
* have total technical mastery to work within the restrictions
* have the discipline to hone and perfect the piece until it is just right

The challenges of the villanelle:

* lines A1/A2 must express the key message
* 5 more of the same rhymes are needed for the remaining a lines
* another set of 6 rhymes is needed for the b lines
* the selected metrical scheme must be obeyed

English, is a rhyme-poor language in comparison to others, for example Italian. Plath used half-rhymes in the b lines (again, in, insane, men, name, again) to extend her options and to give more musical variety. In the a lines, which drive the poem, she only used one such remedy (fade).

The choice of rhyming words is critical. Just one rhyme that is too predictable or too incongruous may make the whole poem sound banal or artificial.

Metrical form adds a further challenge. The use of superfluous adjectives in order to achieve the meter dilutes and devalues the message.

Great poetry is created through the ability to stay within self-imposed rules and yet transcend their limitations. The rules of the villanelle require poetic mastery of the highest order.

There are far fewer well-crafted villanelles than sonnets, which makes the good ones even more glorious. To finish, I invite you to delight in another gem: Villanelle by W.H. Auden

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